(I am seated a couple tables down from a mother with her four-year-old daughter. The daughter asks to go to the restroom, and is about to bounce out into the aisle when her mom grabs her arm.)

Mother: “Honey, look right there. Who’s that?”

Daughter: “Waitress.”

Mother: “And what’s she carrying?”

Daughter: “Tray.”

Mother: “And do you think she could see you with that great big tray in the way?”

(The little girl’s eyes go very wide, and she shakes her head.)

Mother: “You need to watch out and not get in the way of the people who work here, sweetheart. You could get hurt, and they could get in trouble for hurting you, even if it was an accident. Understand?”

(The little girl nods hard, and carefully looks both ways before starting for the bathroom. The waitress, who was bringing me my food, looks shocked.)

Waitress: “That never happens. Never.”

Me: “I bet you that mom waited tables at some point.”

(The waitress asks when she stops by to check on that family, and later tells me the mother was a waitress for three years in college, and nearly got sued for splashing hot coffee on customers when a pair of kids playing tag in the aisle tripped her!)